Fiberglass frustration

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digger
Posts: 30
Joined: Tue Jun 07, 2011 12:33 pm

Fiberglass frustration

Post by digger »

Just when I thought I was getting good at the whole fiberglass thing....I'm on my second canoe. The outside of the hull went pretty good. Although I think I'm still taking off too much epoxy while squeegeeing the first coat. Anyways, now the inside. It's been hot out here on the West Coast so I waited for a drop in temperature and was able to do the first coat at night while the temp was 72 degrees and dropping. I still struggle with loading the epoxy with a brush on the first coat. It seems that I just move the fabric around and not get enough material applied. I switched over to a squeegee to spread the material and this seemed to be easier.

While still spreading the epoxy, I would find small patches that seemed to not accept the epoxy. I would dab those areas with a brush and try to fill them. My helper knocked down any small bubbles that appeared so I thought I was in good shape. Came down in the morning to look at my work and there are dozens of small patches, around an inch or so, that don't have epoxy. Are these considered bubbles? I've read some posts on using a syringe to fill these so that is what I'll try next before my fill coat.

My question is, why are these happening? Is this the outgassing that occurs? I'm using the West System 105/207. I'm getting lots of requests for me to build more of these canoes but I need to get better at the fiberglassing.

If there is anyone on the West Coast that is getting ready to fiberglass and could use a helping hand while helping me understand the process, please let me know.

Thanks folks.
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Jim Dodd
Posts: 1359
Joined: Wed Feb 08, 2006 11:08 pm
Location: Iowa

Re: Fiberglass frustration

Post by Jim Dodd »

I've went to those little "Cigar" foam rollers, they are white. I've never been happy with my squeegee technic. I could always see lines when it cured.

I really like those rollers. I use RAKA epoxy. With non blush hardener.

It sounds like the cloth may have been contaminated. Is that a possibility ?

About the epoxy, did it all cure properly ? Check the spots and see if they are still tacky. If so, you didn't mix properly, or not long enough. I would mix a batch at least three minutes, sometimes longer when it was cold.
If the resin cured properly, then you could have a contamination problem in the cloth, or the hull.

Could you post some pics ?

Jim
Keep your paddle wet and your seat dry!
digger
Posts: 30
Joined: Tue Jun 07, 2011 12:33 pm

Re: Fiberglass frustration

Post by digger »

Hpopefully this gives you an idea of the bubble type.

http://i882.photobucket.com/albums/ac24 ... gki2y8.jpg
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Denis
Posts: 313
Joined: Tue May 11, 2004 8:11 am
Location: Lakefield, Ontario

Re: Fiberglass frustration

Post by Denis »

looks like off gassing overnight created the bubbles. You need to babysit it for a few hours after finishing to press out the bubbles that may form. You could try drilling small holes in each end of the bubble and injecting mixed epoxy into the air space till it flows out the opposite hole. I got about 6 tiny bubbles from staple holes in this last boat.

Denis
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